London, Asharq Al-Awsat – A well-informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat that prominent figures within the Daawa Party have advised the outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who heads the State of Law coalition and the Daawa Party, that he should withdraw his nomination to head the next government because parties within the National Alliance (which compromises of the State of Law coalition and the National Iraqi Alliance) insist that they will not give him their vote.
The source who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity said, “There are reliable reports and information within the Islamic Daawa Party that confirm that both Hassan Shabar, the legal advisor to the Prime Minister and a prominent official from the Islamic Daawa Party, and Sheikh Abdul Halim al Zuhairi, the religious advisor to the Prime Minister who led the negotiations with the [Iraqi] National Alliance headed by Ammar al Hakim, informed al Maliki that other parties inside and outside of the National Alliance will not give him their vote. For that reason he should withdraw from standing for the position of prime minister for a second term.”
The source indicated that “those figures also informed the Prime Minister of the necessity of putting forward a compromise candidate in the coming period.” With regards to the extent to which the outgoing Prime Minister accepted this idea the source said, “Al Maliki reached the conclusion that some parties in the National Alliance have reservations about him heading the next government, which prompted him to put forward names [of other people] from the Daawa Party instead of him (Safa al Saafi, Haidar al Abadi and Khodair al Khozai) but the Sadrist current rejected them claiming that they are difficult people to interact with.” “The proposed scenario is now moving towards putting forward a compromise candidate from the Daawa Party and from the State of Law Coalition in particular,” said the source refusing to reveal anymore details.
The source mentioned that the Sadrist Current that is considered one of the most important components of the Iraqi National Alliance (44 seats) in parliament still has reservations about al Maliki taking on a second term as Prime Minister, which cast a shadow over the negotiations between the two coalitions that announced their alliance at the beginning of June under the name the “National Alliance”.